Cleaning leaves and other debris from roof gutters is a bothersome, and often a difficult and dangerous, but necessary, task. Conventionally, gutters are stationary and it is necessary to climb a ladder or crawl down a roof to the level of the gutter to gain access for cleaning, and repositioning along the gutter is required every few feet.
Various attempts have been made to alleviate this problem, such as covering gutters with perforated or slotted covers, which are not completely satisfactory as some water will flow over the covers without entering through the perforations or slots, especially when leaves or other debris become lodged on the covers. This problem of water flowing over the covers is particularly troublesome during heavy rain storms. Further, over time, roof materials and small debris eventually build up inside the gutters sufficiently to cause the need to remove the covers and clean out the gutters.
There have also been attempts to mount gutters so that they can be pivoted to position the open top of the gutter downwardly to discharge accumulated leaves and debris or allow cleaning of leaves and debris from below. However, none of these are known to have been commercially successful because they require significant modification of an existing gutter or involve positive manipulating mechanisms that add to the complexity and cost of installation and operation. Most of these involve hinging gutters for pivoting from either their bottom outer or inner corners, with the gutters simply hanging loosely from the bottom corners.
One known rotatable gutter system that does not involve pivoting from one of the bottom corners is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,719, issued Oct. 25, 1994 to Eric E. Lewis. As disclosed in this patent the gutter is mounted on a pivot rod located at or below the top of the gutter and in vertical alignment with the center of mass of the gutter. A cam is mounted on the pivot rod. A cable is attached to the cam and extends over a pulley and downwardly between the gutter and the adjacent building surface for manipulation from below. This arrangement of the pulley and cable requires undesirable spacing of the gutter from the building. Pulling on the cable causes the gutter to pivot until the front corner of the gutter is stopped against a bracket attached to and extending from the adjacent building surface. In this stopped position the open top of the gutter faces generally downwardly to discharge leaves and debris. Return of the gutter to its normal upright position is accomplished by releasing the cable, allowing the gutter to return to its upright position in which it hangs in balance by gravity without mechanical stops. Any uneven disposition of leaves and debris in the bottom of the gutter can result in a relocation of the center of mass with an undesirable displacement of the gutter from its normal upright position.
In contrast, the pivotable roof gutter assembly of the present invention utilizes an uncomplicated and inexpensive assembly for mounting a roof gutter for pivoting from a normal upright position to a downwardly facing discharge position with return to the upright position being facilitated by the weight distribution of the gutter, and with the weight distribution causing the gutter to be seated against a stop in the normal upright position.
In essence, the roof assembly of the present invention comprises a mounting over the rear wall of a gutter for pivoting the gutter about a pivot axis that is spaced rearwardly from the front-to-rear center of weight distribution so that the rear wall of the gutter is urged into a normal upright position against a stationary gutter support member, with the pivot axis also being located at a position so as to maintain clearance of the gutter from contact with the surface of the adjacent building as the rear of the gutter moves downwardly along the building surface when the gutter is pivoted to a downwardly facing discharge position. In one embodiment the weight distribution of the gutter in the discharge position is on the building side of the pivot axis, resulting in the gutter being urged and retained in the discharge position. The mounting for the gutter is attached to the side of the building. The gutter upright position stop is the stationary gutter support member, and the gutter discharge position stop may be the roof of the building.